The Works：Photos of old HK, performance calligraphy & live music from a Sweden jazz trio

This December marks the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Hong Kong. On 8th December 1941 Hong Kong time, the same day as they attacked Pearl Harbour, Japanese troops invaded Hong Kong. Local troops, as well as British, Canadian and Indian units, fought back intensely. But on Christmas Day, just over two weeks later, the colony surrendered. An estimated 4,000 people were killed. 3,000 were severely wounded. A memorial garden and Cenotaph in Central still commemorate those who died in both World Wars. The Cenotaph and the garden are still here, but much of our past has slipped away: the streets, the buildings, the people. It’s always good to have a chance to encounter images of Hong Kong’s past we haven’t seen. And there’s a chance to do that right now at the University Museum and Art Gallery with the exhibition “Pictures of the Past” which features rare photographs of Hong Kong at the beginning of the 20th century shot by a naval doctor from Hungary, Dezső Bozóky.
Dezső Bozóky has left us images of a time that have long gone. Ironically, while the apparently tough material fabric of our cities often changes and disappears so fast, it’s the apparently softer and more vulnerable cultural traditions that outlive the bricks and mortar. One of those is the art and practice of calligraphy, once seen as a prerequisite for any educated Chinese scholar or even would-be civil servant. In today’s Hong Kong, one professor of visual art, Daniel Lau, has been injecting a modern performance element into the ancient art form.
Swedish bassist Rickard Malmsten is no stranger to The Works. Previously based in Hong Kong, he has frequently appeared on the show not only as a performer in his own right but also to introduce fine jazz musicians from Sweden to Hong Kong and to take them into mainland China. His current line-up is a jazz vocal trio with singer Eddie Hulten and drummer Jan Heidenberg. And they’re here with Ben.